


Venezuela Trains

by Happy_Loner_Mushroom



Series: Unknown [2]
Category: Black Panther (2018)
Genre: Cousin Incest, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Happy ending though, I Will Go Down With This Ship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-25
Updated: 2018-03-25
Packaged: 2019-04-07 20:57:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,860
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14089512
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Happy_Loner_Mushroom/pseuds/Happy_Loner_Mushroom
Summary: And your gaze still lasting on my brainSleeping in on Venezuela trainsI won’t be the one to tell youI can never find the perfect time to say that IWon’t be the one to tell you-Ravyn LenaeHis response to her is reactionary. He juts his chin out at her, and pretends he has the upper hand.The truth is he did not account for her.He knew of her, but had chosen to brush over the information given for the bigger goals he had.





	Venezuela Trains

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everybody! After what took longer then expected, here's the second installment in what is now a series for this ship! Sorry it took so long, but writing from Erik's POV is surprisingly hard lol. 
> 
> This time, the song inspiration for this is "Venezuala Trains," by Ravyn Lenae. 
> 
> So let's hope this isn't a complete mess! Hope you enjoy!

_And your gaze still lasting on my brain_

_Sleeping in on Venezuela trains_

_I won’t be the one to tell you_

_I can never find the perfect time to say that I_

_Won’t be the one to tell you_

 

“That's not my name, princess.”

His response to her is reactionary. He juts his chin out at her, and pretends he has the upper hand.

The truth is he did not account for her.

He knew of her, but had chosen to brush over the information given for the bigger goals he had.

The truth is he did not want to think about her.

*

She tells him she is staying.

Like every other emotion besides his rage, Erik hides his surprise well. He takes the news in stride, but recognizes she can not stay if she continues to be blind.

He drags her to the edge of the waterfall, and forces her to face the most likely truth.

“You think there's any chance you're bro is gonna survive that? You think you can stop me now?”

He grips her tighter when she begins to thrash against him. He knows he can never force her to see things his way.

She can understand though.

*

His spiritual awakening is not really an awakening, so much as a reminder. It is a nightmare. It is torture. It is who he will always be, and Erik takes it all in.

She is the first thing he sees when he finally escapes back to the living.

Then he realises how much he must be showing her, and she seems to realise it too. She backs away before he is forced to do something worse.

But now he's angry, because she saw him before he was prepared.

He burns all the heart-shaped herbs.

Just to remind her how much she hates him, because she needs to know this part of him.  
*

They have dinner alone, because there are plans that need to be put in order. He places them so they are only a couple of feet away from each other. So he can gauge her reactions.

He wants to remember the looks she gives him.

“You'll be joining me in my first public appearance in two days. I'll have your wardrobe prepared by then,” he tells her first.

She pauses her sip at the announcement, but only nods before continuing to take a drink from her glass.

Just as blatantly filled with hatred and feigned disinterest as he expected.

He can't wait to see what she thinks of his wardrobe choices.

“Oh, and you'll have to walk me through your lab tomorrow. I expect a full run through of all your systems and inventions.”

She lifts a brow at that. “Are you sure you'll be able to understand?”

He's got her again.

“I think you're forgetting I do have some schooling when it comes to tech, princess. Perhaps you underestimate me.”

He can't prove her wrong. He is everything she hates.

He is sure he can prove her different though.

*

The tour goes well.

She is as smart as he expected.

Her inventions almost leave no room for the anger he feels at never having the chance to succeed like she has.

Almost.

He decides he has to prove someone wrong. Her, himself, or some higher being. It doesn't matter.

He has to show someone he can be just as good.

*

He smirks when she stomps into the throne room the next day.

A night of work has paid off.

“How did you get past my encryptions?”

She's not arrogant enough to give up a chance to understand, to learn something new, and Erik takes that as a good sign.

“Want me to show you, princess?”

Her glare hardens, but she grounds out a polite enough, “Please.”

He doesn't say anything more. Instead, he gets up, and they walk back to her lab. He let's them in, and finds a seat at her desk.

She almost gawks as he takes out and slips on a pair of glasses.

He does not even look at her as he states, “I swear you don't wanna know what'll happen if you tell anyone about the specs.”

She stares at him until he starts teaching. He explains everything she wants to know without hesitation. She looks at him skeptically at the end of it.

“What?” He asks impatiently as he takes off his glasses.

“You know not telling me about my weaknesses could come in handy for you later, right? So why teach me instead?”

He almost wants to laugh. The amount of suspicion and anxiety she’s been trying to hide drips from her tongue.

He spent the whole night before asking himself the same question while he rewrote a completely new program to install into her systems.

“Because I'm not trying to fight you, coz,” he tells her as he stands to face her.

He places his hands on her shoulders, because he wants to both comfort and anger her. He knows his words must hurt her now.

It will make sense to both of them eventually.

“No matter what, I am blood of your blood. You'll understand that someday.”

Her eyes widen at the statement, and she pushes him away. He lets her leave without another word. He’s proved himself enough for today.

*

At the public appearance, he forces her to take his arm.

He's put her in a gown and jewelry fit for someone like her mother, because he knows she'll hate him for it.

He is making a statement of who she'll be in his new order.

“Smile, because I'm sure there are loved ones you can still hurt,” he whispers into her ear.

He does this, because he never wants her to make excuses for who he is.

He just wants her to understand.

*

He has been king for a month now.

Other than the mobilization project, being king to such a self-sufficient kingdom is boring.

He spends most days watching over her.

He watches her gradually get used to his presence. Except he can tell that only agitates her more.

He’s not worried.

*

The nightmare is always the same.

He is a kid again. Small and weak. Every soft part he has tried to rid from himself.

He enters the apartment, and he finds his parents there. Waiting for him. Smiling and beckoning to join them on the couch.

“Erik, come sit with your mom for a while,” his mom instructs.

He does so without complaint, and feels his mom's warm hands touch his head lovingly. His father laughs beside them. There's a sense of dread from knowing what is to come, but he lets himself get distracted by the memory anyways.

“I was just telling your mom about the sunsets in Wakanda, N’Jadaka. They are one of the most beautiful things you will see in your life,” his father explains.

“Will I ever get to see them, dad?”

Seeing his father again now, Erik recognizes the hesitation that he never noticed when he was younger.

“Of course you’ll get to see them.”

He looks down at his hands, only for a split second.

He is alone when he looks up again.

His brain feels this pain like it's the very first time again. He searches through all the rooms twice, each time more frantic than the last.

Every emotion comes out then. He feels himself crying and screaming.

It is different this time though.

A second voice crying arises behind him.

When he turns, he finds Shuri standing there. Except, she is just as small as him. Her hands cover her tear-ridden face, and there is something about the sight that upsets Erik.

His own woes forgotten, he moves towards her.

His hands gently pull her hands away from her face to reveal the heartbreak there.

“Erik…my parents…T’Challa…all of them are gone.”

She sobs harder, and he feels her melt into his arms.

“Erik, they are gone.”

There is no accusation in her voice. Only a pain that he knows all too well.

“I know,” he whispers to her. “I’m here.”

She pulls away, and stares up at him with her puffy eyes. There's something desperate about them, something defeated.

“Don't leave.”

His answer is almost instant. He is as sure about this as he is with anything else.

“I promise I won't, Princess.”

She embraces him again, but she is calm.

“Don't hide yourself away from me.”

He's upright in bed when he finally can't take it anymore. The sheets are rumpled from how hard he's been gripping them.

He's angry, but that's a given. It's just not often that he's confused. He's been king for two months now, and this is different from the nightmares he usually has.

Except it's rather simple, because there are parts of him he still hasn't shown her.

*

When he enters her bedroom, he is surprised to find her mirroring his earlier state.

Despite her closed eyes, Erik can see the pain.

He thinks he might know. At the very least, he definitely understands.

So he gently shakes her until her eyes are looking into his. He wonders if she had been dreaming about him, because the shock in her eyes almost tell the truth for her.

“We’re going out, coz. Be ready in twenty.”

As he is about to leave, he pauses and turns to her. Their eyes meet, and he thinks he sees fear in her’s.

“Nightmares mean something, coz.” There's no smile or smirk apparent on his face as he speaks, but his voice is soft. “They’re the reason I am where I'm at today.”

Even if she is scared, Shuri has to face the truth.

He slams the door shut before the pillow hits his head.

*

The train ride into the city is familiar, if not slightly more of luxurious than the subway in Oakland.

He stares at the city as they pass by. At the speed they are going at, the city passes by in a colorful blur, and if he squints it sort of resembles the graffiti covered buildings of his old neighborhood.

It leaves a warm but bitter taste.

*

They spend the whole day taking care of business in the city. It is boring, and requires a level of diplomacy Erik forced upon himself.

He knew when he took this gig that it was gonna have some boring parts. He's been through far worse to get here, so forcing himself to carry out all the kingly duties he's never wanted is nothing. Just another obstacle.

The same way putting himself through school was an obstacle. The same way killing thousands of people was an obstacle. The same way learning the language and the entire true history of Wakanda was an obstacle.

His eyes catch Shuri throughout their meetings, and he can see her distraction. Whatever she had dreamt about presses on her. 

After a whole day of meeting with people, Erik leads them up a mountain trail instead of back to the palace. There also are things that press on his mind that he wants to get over.

Things that he has accepted would catch up to him someday.

“Why are we here?” She grumbles.

Erik turns to her just as she begins to slip. He grabs her without hesitation, and takes the chance to whisper in her ear the truth.

“Something I've always needed to see.”

He continues on, even while she lags behind in hesitation. He walks until he is almost at the edge of the cliffside of the mountain, then stops.

He knows what his father was talking about now.

Something about this moment brings back all the memories. Of Oakland, of college, of military. Everything feels like it's been leading to this point.

To Erik, watching the sunset feels like watching the sun burn even harder even in the face of defeat as it goes down.  It sets the sky ablaze with all its might, and colors it for one last beautiful moment.

He takes her hand in his when she finally moves to stand next to him.

There seems to be no one better to share this moment with than the person he could have been.

Erik watches until the sun is dead and the sky is blue in remorse. Next to him, he can feel the silent sobs that rack Shuri, and he knows he has one last thing to do. He releases her hand, and turns to face her.

“Hit me.”

Somehow, the statement brings on more tears; ones that are shed for the all the incongruencies that fill her life.

“Hit me as much as you need, Shuri,” he adds with her name, because he knows this is what she needs.

She is shoving and punching at him with all her might. The tears fall freely, and her screams are loud.

She keeps going until they are on the ground, with her on top of him. The punches keep meeting his cheeks, but Erik takes them all in silence. He feels the pain begin to bloom around his face, and knows that she deserves this.

She deserves closure, like he deserved it.

This isn't an obstacle. It is a pain that he accepts, because in his triumph he knows he's left a wake of destruction.

“I hate you! I hate you! I hate y-” she chokes on the last one, completely exhausted by her efforts.

She surrounds him. Her tears drip onto his skin, and her face is twisted with all the emotions she’s been holding in. With all that he's caused.

“I know, princess. I'm the bad guy in your world, I know.”

His hands gently press on top of her own. They stay like that for a long while as Shuri catches her breath, but Erik could wait forever.

*

The train ride back is calmer than the one onto the city. Their sides press together, but Shuri keeps her eyes trained out the window.

Erik feels a sort of peace in the moment that he hasn't felt in a long time.

Soon, he feels the weight of Shuri’s head come to rest on his shoulder.

It all reminds him of the train trips he used to take with his mother. The ones where he'd sit hand in hand with her, and watch the world go by.

He can't sleep that night. Not because he is restless, but because he doesn't want this feeling to disappear.

His feet are silent as he walks through the palace. The kingdom never sleeps and the cityscape outside remains colorfully lit. The sight is better than the stars themselves.

When he gets to her bedroom, he decides to enter. Not quite sure what he wants to say for once, but just knowing he needs to say something.

He sits beside her on the bed. His hand reaches out to stroke her cheek. She is awake, but remains silent.  

“I'm not asking for forgiveness, princess. I just hope you will understand someday. I am blood of your blood.”

She doesn't respond. It doesn't matter though as he gets up, and leaves her.

Erik goes to the lab after that.

*

“Erik, stop messing with that! You're going to hurt yourself, dummy.”

Shuri watches with hands on her hips as he performs skateboard tricks on the hoverboard. He looks up at her with a cocky smile.

“Relax, princess. I'm fine.”

It has been another month, and he finds that his shoulders have felt lighter lately.

“I think your problem’s in the fuel output,” he says as he sets the board down on her work table.

“Yes, I'm aware, but if I make the output higher, the whole thing short circuits.”

A hand goes to his chin in contemplation. He thinks about her problem long and hard, because he actually wants to help her.

“How about you let me work on the board for the night? I think I might have a solution to your problem.”

“As long as you don't break it.”

“Don't worry, I'll show you, princess.”

His night's sleepless. He spends it in the lab, trying about a hundred different combinations of type of fuel and amount input.

He wants to earn her respect in the one aspect of her life that is wholly her own to control.

*

Her face is priceless when she comes into the lab the next day to find him gliding effortlessly all over the room.

“So, what do you think? Impressed?”

She says nothing at first, but the way her eyes glitter at the boards betrays her frown.

“Wanna take them out for a real test drive?”

She looks at him, and nothing could hide the excitement across her face.

They ride up to the cliff of the mountain, and get into a small tussle over ownership rights of the hoverboard.

“Come on, princess. I think I deserve at least a shout out for the sleepless night I had in order to solve your problem!” He grunts out as his hands keep her attacking fists at arms-length.

“Yeah right! I've probably taken years off of my life for the amount of sleepless nights I've given up!” She laughs out.

They aren't truly arguing about who's had more restless night. There is no anger in her voice as she throws all her weight to force him to the ground.

This is something closer to a those playful fights Erik always imagined having as a child. When they both finally concede to each other, they sit side by side, and catch their breaths.

He side-glances her. She looks content, and Erik decides to tell her some of his truths.

“Pops used to talk about the sunsets here all the time. It was the thing I always wanted to see most,” he explains first.

Her hands still at his words. She looks up at him, but he looks away. He isn't sure he can look at her while he reveals his hidden parts.

“Does it live up to everything you thought it'd be?”

His eyes are trained on the oncoming sunset as he continues.

“It does, but I think there's more to it than I ever thought there'd be.”

Because he didn't account for her. He never imagined she would be a major plan.

For the next hour, as the sun gives out its final cry before defeat, they share truths. He tells her about Oakland, about the ugly childhood filled with group homes and foster parents, about the careful years of planning, about all the anger that drove him.

Erik does not feel as weak as he thought he would, because Shuri does not look at him with pity. No matter what, she refuses to excuse his actions for his past. When he is done, Shuri tells him about growing up in Wakanda. About everything wonderful, and everything bad; all the things he did and didn’t know.

She speaks about her brother with love, not tears, in her eyes. She tells him about how they used to compete over everything, and how she teased him endlessly about his big fat crush on Nakia. She tells him about her adventures with her brother getting her into trouble with their parents.

“My mother always scolded me, because she knew I was the mastermind behind every single one of our plans.”

“I don’t doubt that, princess,” he tells her with a confident smile.

He might have been the same if he had been in her position.

She tells him about her beginnings in inventing, and her eyes do not shed tears when she tells him how her brother was her first supporter. They light up when she talks about her first inventions, and he wishes he could have been there before her brother.

She admits the way their traditions stifled her.

He snorts. “Well, princess, shouldn’t you be thanking me then? For changing all that shit?”

He knows it’s sharp, but she answers him with truth. As painful as that is.  

“I I don’t know anymore.”

He gives her a nod, and does not continue. She has had her whole world uplifted, because of him and the mistakes of others. He knows how difficult it must be for her to have to accept the truth, good and bad.

When they finally go back, Shuri does not ask him anything else, and Erik knows they’ve broken through some barrier between them today.

But that doesn’t help his sleep that night. Nothing has ever helped that.

The news Okoye gives him definitely does not help his sleep. The news that the mobilization is finally ready.

“We should be able to move out in a week’s time, my king,” Okoye tells him that night.

He hears the hesitation and anger in her voice, but simply nods at her update.

Nothing, no one, could stop him. There are many things he feels the need to do out of impulse, but this isn’t one of them. This is years and years of pain and pure rage that’s led him to do this.

To finally get the closure he deserves, and give others what he never had.

He dreams of his mother and his father that night. The happy moments before the tragic end, and when he finally jolts awake the memories flood him with a desire.

It’s been three months since he became king. He decides it’s time to go home.

Shuri complies with only a little bit of hesitation, but with enough annoyance.

“And we couldn’t have flew out later today, when I would have been more rested, because…” she prods at him as they leave Wakanda.

“Because there’s a bed on this plane that has sheets with a thread count over a thousand, and I wouldn’t want that to go to waste,” he snaps back at her with a sarcastic smile.

She simply rolls her eyes, and swats his arm as she brushes past him towards the bedroom.

*

Erik hesitates, because he isn’t sure he is ready to come back.

He can feel her presence waiting behind him though, and knows he has to continue.

The place is in an even worse state than he remembers. It doesn’t stop the image of his mom’s favorite chair or his dad’s wall decorations from coming back to him.

He silently kneels and lifts up a loose floor board. In the dark space beneath it sits a tin cookie box, dusty from years of neglect. Erik pulls it out, and blows the dust off the top.

All that remains of his childhood and his parents sit in the box. All of the items, so trivial and small, could not be more significant.

Erik hates being a sentimental bastard, but he’s spent a lifetime denying himself of these moments. Now, almost on the brink of his victory, seems as good as anytime to do this.

Satisfied with the contents, he soon closes the box and gets up.

“You hungry, princess?” He asks her. As if he did not just have a moment there.

Shuri nods, and he chooses not to test her about the shocked look on her face. Instead, he does his best to exit without looking back.  

*

He’s charmed by the excitement she holds for cheeseburgers. Her eyes crinkle up as she smiles at him, and he’s grateful he can get this type of expression out of her.

It brings back their first time eating together.

“So, are you ever going to actually explain to me what we're doing here?” She asks him, all amusement replaced by tentative curiosity.

He wishes he didn’t have to explain it to her. Not because it would reveal his weaknesses; he’s already showed her almost all of him. He just doesn’t want to dwell on the pain longer than he has to.

In a week’s time, he’ll finally be free of this.

“Do I even need to? I thought you’d be smart enough to figure it out on your own, princess.,” he deflects.

She rolls her eyes in that way that makes him smile. “I understand you came to get that, which must be mementos from your childhood. I just don't understand why else we need to be here for a week.”

Except he isn’t smiling this time. The realisation hits him that in a week’s time, things will be different for her two. The mobilization almost feels like a confirmation of an end for her.

So he asks her with real sincerity if she wants to spend the next week, somehow her final moments, in Wakanda instead.

“You really in a rush to get back?”

She almost looks surprised, but answers softly, “No, I suppose I'm not.”

He turns his attention back to the box. There’s an itch in him at having it around.

“These were some of my mom’s things. Photos of us, letters from pop, and her wedding ring,” he admits to her.

He takes out the ring, and rolls it around in his hand. The light glistens off of the small stone. His mother used to look at it with so much love in her eyes.

He knew it was all for his father.

“What a ridiculous notion that people have been fighting for thousands of years for hunks of rock like this and gold,” he tells her to deflect from the heaviness suddenly in the air.

It’s harder to look at this than he thought it would be.

So he looks up at her, and leans across the table to grab her left hand. She feels a shiver up her spine as he places the jewelry on her ring finger.

It’s almost like he’s looking at his future, while finally giving up his past.

“Erik,” she says without any bite or real reason.

He slips off the ring, and plops it back into the box without another word.

She looks up at him with wide eyes, and there is something there.

Like hope.

*

The rest of the week is spent with a surprising amount of levity. He shows her Oakland, and watches as she takes it all in.

They’ve reached a point where he’s shown her every part of him, and she hasn’t looked at him with confusion or hatred for a long time.

But he knows, even now that she understands, she could never accept him.

On their final night in Oakland, Erik gains a new nightmare.

He fights T’Challa at that waterfall.

Except, this time he watches Shuri accept his final blow as she swoops in front of her brother.

In this case, even as her eyes look at him with understanding, he has failed her.

It has been a long time since he’s cried, but the tears flow freely as he takes her lifeless body in his arms.

There is no one else anymore.

The two press together, skin separated by their wet fabrics of clothing.

He screams and screams for her.

He never wanted to choose between his past and her, and now she’s chosen for him.

*

When he finally understands where he is, Erik looks over to see Shuri looking back at him with a bloodied lip.

He’s hurt her, and he can’t bear the sight.

So he leaves, and spends the night running through the whole of Oakland.

There are a lot of things that Erik believes can happen if only one put in the necessary amount of patience and will power. He’s proven that with his title as king, but this is different.

He isn’t sure he can choose between the two.

*

He gets back to the hotel room in the late morning, and stares at Shuri’s still sleeping form after he enters.

Her lip is swollen, but scabbed now. She sleeps with a peaceful expression though.

Erik doesn't think he can look at her any longer without doing something, so he turns to their luggage and begins to pack.

She gets up after another twenty minutes or so, but he isn't sure he can look at her so he finishes folding his shirt first.

Then he faces her. She is cautious, and he wishes she wouldn't be.

He moves towards the table where he set out medicine for her earlier.

“Stay still,” he says as he uncaps the tube of ointment in his hand.

She does so. His other hand is a gentle pressure holding her head upwards. He leans in closer to her, eyes on the split of her lip.

“Well, it's scabbed over so that's something. You're gonna wanna keep it hydrated and apply this ointment every couple of hours.”

He dabs the thick, oily substance onto the wound, and Erik is mesmerized by the contact.

When he finishes, he keeps his hand still on her chin, and their eyes meet again.

“Sorry,” he says barely above a whisper.

He means to apologize for what he discovered in his dreams last night, but doesn't quite get to it.

He isn't sure if he leaned in first, or if she did, but the point is they both did eventually.

Lips press against lips, and he tries to be gentle because of the split.

They come apart, but only briefly. Her hands move to cling to his shirt, and his hands wrap around her neck.

She pulls him back in.

The kiss is heated, teeth and tongues clashing, and there’s more wrestling now as he pushes her down till her back meets the mattress again.

After a while longer, he finally pulls away from her, before he decides to stay here with her forever.

“Come on, princess. We can continue this when we get back, but we should get going soon,” he says unable to hide his own reluctance.  

*

The flight back to Wakanda is pleasant. They talk tech and anything else on their minds.

They don’t talk about what’s just happened. They don't need to talk about it.

He watches her face fall the moment they get through the border to Wakanda. The fleets of planes lined up by the palace represent his mobilization, and their end.

Because he knows.

She understands, but she can't agree, even if she wants to.

Erik notes her silence when they get off the plane. His hands move to her jaw, and he tries to memorize her face.

“Mark my words, princess. I hope you understand, if I had my way, you’d be my major plan.”

*

T’Challa’s return feels like a tension in the pit of stomach finally releasing itself. It feels like a prophecy coming true.

The old hardened gaze has returned to Erik’s profile as if it never left. He calls out commands, and the guards begin to move.

He turns to her, and takes out the memory from his pocket. His hands grasp hers, and they boar into her with the urgency of a last time.

Because he is who he is. His past will always be a part of him, and he won’t force her to choose.

“This is how it ends, then?” She shakes her head at him.

His mouth almost forms a smile, because at least she looks a little doubtful. He presses his forehead to hers, and whispers his response.

“I know you understand, princess. And that’s all I can ask for.”

Then they are kissing hard, before he pulls away, leaving behind his mother’s ring.

With that, he enters in the battle he’s been waiting for his whole life.

*

He fights with reckless abandon, because he has nothing to lose now. He’s said all he’s needed to someone he loves. He’s learned who he could have been, and taught someone who they could be.

So he takes T’Challa’s blow with a silent acceptance of his end, even as her scream rings out in the air.

“I never wanted to make you cry for me, princess. So don’t,” Erik groans out, harsh and soft at the same time.  

He did this for her. He chose so she wouldn’t have to. Still she shakes her head, and tears fall for him. He can feel the pressure of her hand over the wound. The darkness begins to enclose his vision, and he remembers the sunset.

“But I-I can fix you!” She gasps out at him.

He would smile if he could. There is nothing to fix, and no more pain to cause.

*

He is in a replay of all his happiest and darkest memories. All of them blended together in a supercut of his life, and he can only find one regret.

It is only with the memories of Shuri that he feels any pain.

Sometimes, even as he is a child with his parents again, he can hear her voice. It comes to him like a whisper in his ear.

“N’Jadaka, what are you still doing here?” His father asks him one day.

Something dons on him then.

“Follow her voice, N’Jadaka. I remember when I decided to follow your mother’s, it was the best decision of my life. It led me to the happiest years of my life, even if there were only a few,” his father tells him, picking him up in a hug.

So Eric leaves the apartment after that. He steps out the front door to follow the voice, and finds himself in Wakanda again. Except he feels like a ghost in a sea of people all unable to see him.

The voice draws him to the palace, the lab, to her.

He finds her sitting by his body, and Erik feels darkness again as he is pulled into the comatose body.

“I know you may not forgive me when you wake up, but I hope you understand why I could not let you go,” she says.

He wishes he had the ability to embrace her, kiss her, and scream to the whole world of what he has created with the woman in front of him.  

“Princess, I think we're just getting started,” he whispers instead.

And it’s true. No more choosing, or hiding. Whatever he has to face, he’ll do it with her.

She gasps, and her eyes look up to meet his. His vision is still blurry from being closed for so long, but he can see her excitement. He tries to move towards her, just as eager to see her.

“Don't move so much. You still need to rest, idiot,” she scolds him as she places a steadying hand on his chest.

“Bossy right off the bat, princess. Can't say I expected any less from you,” he says with about as much a smile as he is able to muster in his current state.

She smiles back as tears begin to form.

“Don't I get a kiss for being so brave with all these injuries?”

Her laugh gets muffled by the kiss she gives him.

Erik has never felt better than in this moment with her.

 

 _I won't be the one to tell you_   
_I can never find the perfect line to say that_   
_I will be the one to fail you_ _  
I will be the one_

  
_Mark my words, I hope you understand_   
_If I had my way you'd be my major plan_   
_Tell me if your world is falling_ _  
You will be the one I'm calling_

**Author's Note:**

> Part of this is a total mess, because I was having a really hard time capturing Erik. 
> 
> But part of it is also intentionally everywhere! I feel like Erik definitely has a lot more going on inside than he shows outside, and I definitely feel like he's got a ton of ANGST just about ready to burst out from him at any second haha. So sometimes his thoughts are messy and conflicting, and I think that suits him. 
> 
> If you compare it with "Genesis," at some points I used the same lines. It's mainly because I think Erik and Shuri are, and could have been, really similar people. Of course, they both diverged a long time ago, so that's where the differences in thought process come in. I also didn't include all of the scenes, and added some new ones, just because I feel like Erik would probably focus and care about different things. 
> 
> I know I talked about adding beyond this end point this time, but I just decided to stop writing here. Honestly, it just felt more like the cleanest end. For this part at least. I definitely still love this ship, and now that I've gotten through most of the ANGST of their relationship, I'm excited to start thinking up fluffier installments for this series!


End file.
